He Promised Me A Sunset, He Kissed Her Under It Chapter 09

He Promised Me A Sunset, He Kissed Her Under It Chapter 09

For the next six months, Ethan emailed me almost every day.

At first, he still clung to that ridiculous pride of his.

[When does the project end?]

[We’ll talk when you come back.]

[Your place at the company is still open.]

I didn’t answer a single message.

A month later, the startup collapsed completely.

Equipment and location costs nearly doubled. Two projects ended up in breach of contract. The investor pulled out, and the other partners quit.

Ryan blamed Ethan for everything.

The two of them got into a screaming match at the studio that eventually turned physical.

Before Ryan left, he pointed a finger in Ethan’s face.

“Don’t start acting like some heartbroken boyfriend now.”

“When Claire was sick, you were the one who told me not to worry about her.”

“You were the one who said getting her to Lake Tahoe was enough because technically you’d kept your promise.”

“Now that she doesn’t want you anymore, suddenly you’re desperate?”

Ethan stood in the wrecked studio without saying a word.

Chloe stayed with him.

But once the two of them were finally together out in the open, they started fighting constantly.

Ethan complained that she didn’t understand the projects and couldn’t help with anything.

Chloe confronted him through tears.

“You used to tell me I didn’t have to do anything.”

“You said all you wanted was for me to be happy.”

Only then did Ethan begin to understand.

I’d stayed up night after night helping him write proposals and lugged equipment all over the city, and he’d taken it all for granted.

All Chloe had to do was eat with him, go to movies, and act cute.

Somehow she got all his patience and tenderness.

He’d saved all his tenderness for someone else.

Then he’d expected me to stay exactly where I was and keep being his safety net.

After one argument, Chloe finally dropped the gentle act completely.

“What’s the point of regretting it now?”

“I saw Claire at the overlook that day.”

Ethan’s head snapped up.

“What did you say?”

“I saw her standing behind the crowd.”

Chloe’s eyes were red as she gave him an almost vindictive smile.

“I didn’t warn you.”

“I wanted her to see you kiss me. I wanted her to leave on her own.”

“But Ryan wasn’t the what gave me the nerve to do it. You were.”

“If you hadn’t kissed me, would she have left?”

The color slowly drained from Ethan’s face.

That day, I’d dragged myself to the lake with a high fever.

He had promised to watch the sunset with me, then shattered everything those four years had meant to me in the very place I’d dreamed of seeing it with him.

No one had seduced him, and it hadn’t been some momentary lapse.

He had simply taken my love for granted, certain that even if I saw the truth with my own eyes, I still wouldn’t leave.

Ethan reached for Chloe’s wrist and removed the bracelet he’d given her.

“We’re done.”

Chloe grabbed his sleeve with both hands.

“How can you blame me?”

“You were the one who said you didn’t love her anymore!”

“You don’t love her now either. You just can’t stand the fact that she was actually capable of walking away from you!”

His hands paused for a beat, but he still pried her fingers off his sleeve.

After that day, his emails gradually became nothing but apologies.

[Claire, I’m sorry.]

[I know I was wrong.]

[You don’t have to forgive me. Could you at least tell me if you’re doing okay?]

I still didn’t reply.

Over that year, I traveled with the project team through desert, barren plains, and abandoned frontier towns.

On the hardest shoots, we spent entire nights outside in single-digit temperatures.

My fingers would go so numb I could barely press the shutter, and my shoes were always full of sand.

But one morning, as the first light of dawn streamed through the crumbling archway of an old ruin, something finally clicked.

What I’d given up for Ethan had never been just a job.

It had been the life I actually wanted.

Before the project ended, a documentary short I had filmed on my own was selected for a national showcase for emerging filmmakers.

Professor Reed asked, “Do you want to go back for the opening?”

I looked at the invitation on my laptop and nodded. “Of course.”

The day the news was announced, Ethan immediately bought a ticket for opening day.

He believed that if he could just see me in person, he might still have a chance to start over.

What he didn’t know was that during that I hadn’t spent a single day that year waiting for him.